Disclaimer:
Embry: Donna still doesn't own Twilight. Much to her dismay.
Me: You still love me though, right?
E: Yes, Donna, I still love you.
M: Just checking.
I am going to take time out to do something that I don't normally do. I am going to pimp out one of my stories during the update of another. I have a story on here that isn't getting the response that I wanted. If I'm doing something wrong, I need to know how to fix it. If someone could read it, and then tell me what they think I should do with it, maybe give me ideas, I would give them credit. The story is called The Life and Times of Isabella Marie Swan. I would greatly appreicate it.
Bella woke up, knowing she wasn't in her room. The window was on the opposite side of the room for one thing. She tried to focus her eyes on one certain thing in the room. Maybe that would help her to realize where she was. She tossed her feet over the side of the bed, thinking that if she opened the curtains and she could see the room that would help.
She stubbed her toe on something, making her grimace in pain. She fell onto whatever she had stubbed her toe on, and she threw her hands in front of her so that they would take the brunt of the fall. The door across the room slowly opened and light flooded the room from the overhead light. She had fallen onto Edwards couch. What was she doing here?
Alice watched her with curious eyes. She carried the tray that she was holding over to the nightstand.
"What are you doing?" Alice asked, trying hold back a smile.
"I was trying to walk over to the window to open the curtains. What am I doing in here?"
"You don't remember?"
"I was so tired last night that I don't remember much of anything." Bella said with a sigh.
"You called me last night, demanding that I tell you where Edward was. I told you that I wasn't going to tell you over the phone. So I sent Jasper to get you."
"Please tell me Jacob wasn't there." she said, clenching her eyes shut.
"Oh, but he was. And he was not happy with having to spend the night here."
"He's here?" Bella asked with wide eyes.
"It was one of his stipulations for you coming over. He refused to leave you."
"Where is he now?"
"Downstairs. He slept on the couch."
"You wouldn't let him sleep up here?"
"We offered. He vehemently refused to sleep in Edwards room."
"Can you blame him?" Bella asked in frustration.
"Having him here hasn't been a walk in the park, either." Rosalie said disdainfully from the hall.
"Hush Rose." Alice said, reprimanding her sister.
"Do you think that Carlisle would mind if Jake and I talked in his office?"
"I don't think so."
"Did we talk about Edward last night?"
"No." Alice said sadly.
"Why?"
"Carlisle wanted to be here. He should be here soon." Alice said with a smile.
"Fine."
"Rosalie? Would you carry this into Carlisle's office for Bella?" Alice asked, gesturing to the tray.
"Why not?" Rosalie said acidly.
Jacob came into Carlisle's office a minute later. He stood in the center of the room looking at the picture of the Volturi.
"Are these the people that are after you?"
"Yes." she said, just above a whisper.
"Carlisle was one of them?"
"He thinks that he might be able to reason with them."
Jacob nodded before turning to face her. She sat at the table in the center of the room. He sat down across from her as she broke a croissant in half. She handed half to him before putting the butter in the middle of the table along with a bowl of fruit and the scrambled eggs.
"I'm not going to be able to eat all of this." she said handing him the fork.
She poured herself a glass of orange juice as he bit into the croissant.
"How did you sleep?" he asked quietly.
"I woke up not knowing where I was."
"That great huh?" he asked sarcastically.
"They never should have let me go up there." she said, shaking her head sadly.
"Because it holds too many memories for you?" he asked with a hurt look.
"No. Because of that look that you just gave me. I don't like hurting you. I never have."
"Good answer." he said with a smile.
They talked for over an hour before someone knocked on the door. Bella crossed to the door, seeing Carlisle on the other side.
"You didn't need to knock. It's your office."
"Yes, but the two of you were talking."
"I would like to know where Edward is."
"Are you okay with her wondering where her ex-fiancee is?"
"I'm curious myself." Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Sit down, Bella. What I am going to tell you isn't going to be easy."
She sat down next to Jacob, and he took her hands in his and placed them on the table. She squeezed his hands tightly as Carlisle came to sit across from them.
"I want you to know that Edward loved you very much. Nothing will ever change that."
Bella nodded, watching him curious eyes.
"You know that there are certain rules that a vampire must follow."
"Yes." she said, nodding again.
"Edward asked us to leave a certain rule out. He was planning on telling you after you had been changed."
Jacob growled as he pulled his hands from Bella's. She put a hand on his back before starting to rub slow, soothing circles.
"Would you like a few minutes?"
"No. Quick and easy should do it. It's just like pulling off a band-aid, right?" Jacob asked, looking at the floor.
"A little more painful than that, I would think." Bella said in a soothing voice.
"What Edward didn't tell you was that while a vampire can love outside of our species, we can not have a soul mate."
"Are you saying that he didn't love me?" Bella asked sounding confused.
"Not all. He was hoping that you would be the exception to the rule. It hurt him beyond repair when he realized that all of his fighting had been for nothing."
"What are you saying, exactly?" Jacob asked, giving him a curious look.
"Edward did love her. Just not as much as she loved him. He was hoping that his feelings would change once Bella was a vampire. We were almost sure that it would happen."
Bella sighed deeply as she felt tears prick her eyes.
"No one blames you for choosing Jacob, Bella."
"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure that Blondie does." Jacob said harshly.
"That is because Rosalie doesn't understand. We have known for a long time how Jacob feels about you, and you him."
"I thought Edward couldn't read my mind." Bella said, sounding confused.
"Jasper felt it. We were all wondering when you were going to realize it."
"Then why would Edward propose?"
"Because he was hoping that Jacob would back off once he realized that he wasn't going anywhere."
"Like that would ever happen." Jacob said rolling his eyes.
"I'm glad that you didn't. I prefer that Bella would stay human. Edward can be very selfish and single minded when he sets his mind to something." Carlisle said sadly.
"Where is he? I don't like that everyone is avoiding telling me."
"He's with the Denali clan."
"With Tanya." Bella said, letting the news sink in.
"We're hoping, that given time, that he will see that she can love him just as well as you can."
"She's a vampire?" Jacob asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"A vampire that has been in love with him for a quarter of a century." Bella said with a sigh.
"I didn't think that you knew about that." Carlisle said with a shake of his head.
"Alice told me the night that she kidnapped me. Thank you for telling me." she said, giving him a sad smile.
"You're welcome, Bella. I don't want you to feel like you aren't welcome here anymore. Because you are."
Bella nodded as he stood from his seat. The door closing with a soft click was the only sound that was made. She turned towards Jacob, not wanting to meet his gaze. He pulled her to him as she collapsed into his chest.
"This is so frustrating." she said into his shirt.
"I know." he said, rubbing her back.
"I love you." she said quietly.
He pulled her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. He tilted her chin to see the tears that were threatening to spill. He smiled sadly as he wiped them away.
"I'm not perfect, you know that. I'm going to drive you up the wall sometimes. You're going to get on my nerves. But, I will stay with you. Because I do love you. More than you could ever know."
She let out a shaky sigh as she held his gaze. She knew that he was telling the truth. He had always been honest with her. Even when it hurt.
XXXX
Charlie sat next to her, while Sue sat across from her. Bella figured telling her dad while she talked to Sue was the best way to go. This way, Charlie was less likely to freak out if there was a crowd.
"You want to move out?" Charlie asked, giving her a skeptical look.
"I would be less than an hour away."
"I think that we could work something out." Sue said with a nod.
"Bella, where are you going to get the money?"
"I still have the money that I inherited from Grandma Marie. I haven't touched it."
"What about college?"
"I plan on using the money that you gave me when I graduated for that." she said, referring to the savings account that he had started when she was born.
"You've really thought this out. That's very responsible of you, Bella." Sue said with a smile.
Charlie still looked at Bella skeptically. He wasn't so sure that she had thought this through. Then again, he wasn't ready to let go of her. He had just gotten her back only a year ago.
"Dad, I know what you're thinking. I'll still come and see you, I'll go to school, even if it's junior college. I have thought this through." she said reassuringly.
"You're sure that this is what you want?"
"Yes, Dad." she said with a nod.
"Okay."
"We'll talk about the rest with the realtor tomorrow."
"I am looking to buy the house. Not rent it." Bella said, looking Sue in the eye.
"I'll make sure that the realtor knows." she said with a smile.
Now that that was taken care of, she could worry about telling Jacob. He was going to be easier to talk to than Charlie. She was pretty sure that he would be the ecstatic about the idea.
XXXX
Charlie, Sue, Seth, Sam, and Emily helped her moved less than a week later. She hadn't told Jacob yet. She wanted to tell him when they were alone. So she picked him up from school. When he asked where they were going all she was that they were going to her house. They drove past Charlies, and Jacob faced her, giving her a confused look.
"You just passed your house. You know that right?"
She ignored him as she kept driving. He looked at her out of the corner of her eye as they turned onto the dirt road that lead to the mountains. She parked out front, right in front of the sold sign. Then it dawned on him. He quickly got out of the truck and met her around the front. He picked her up before spinning her around. She laughed as he carried her into the house like he had the first time, only this time through the front door.
He set her down, but wrapped his arms around her, keeping her in place. She turned around in his arms, taking in the room. She had spent the last two days painting it. It was a dark red, almost burgundy color for the walls, while the trim and ceiling were white. The mantle had been replaced, and it was now a light wood color.
The funiture had come with the house. It wasn't exactly new, but it wasn't beat up either. She took his hand before walking away from him. She pulled him down the hall into the kitchen. He sat at the island while she started dinner.
"This is the only week night that you will be allowed here. Your dad set some ground rules when I talked to him." She said as she faced the counter.
"Yeah? What did he say?"
"That you are only allowed here every other weekend. No weeknights, unless you don't have school the next day; and if you're grades slip, you won't be over here at all."
"I'm gonna go get my bag from the truck."
"You do that." she said with a nod.
They ate dinner half an hour later. She filled him in on everything that he had missed during the week and a half since she had seen him last. He still didn't know how not only Sam, but Seth were able to not think about it when they were in wolf form. He'd have to learn how to do that.
They sat in her truck outside his house late that night. He was still in awe about what she had done. She had gone out of her way to prove to everyone that she wasn't the same person who had been with Edward. She had washed her hands of him. Neither of them had even talked about him since they had gone to the Cullen's.
Billy pulled back the curtain, making Jacob sigh. He opened his door, and walked around the front of the truck. He stopped outside her window. He leaned in, brushing his lips to hers.
"Jacob, you have school tomorrow." Billy called from the porch.
"I'll be right there." he said with a sigh.
"Bye." she said with a smile.
"I'll call you tomorrow."
Bella nodded before he turned to walk into the house. He paused at the door, giving her one last wide grin. She smiled back with a shake of her head. She still had to stop by her dads and drop off the food that was on the seat next to her. She had promised that she would make enough for the week and drop it off. He had said that she didn't need to, but she insisted. She didn't want him eating at the diner every night.
Her dad's cruiser was in the driveway, and the front porch light was on. She opened the front door and heard the TV in the living room. She stuck her head into the living room, and saw that he was asleep on the couch. She grabbed the blanket from off the back of the recliner and covered him with it. He didn't even stir.
She smiled as she unloaded the box that she had brought in. It would like she wasn't even gone. That's what she kept telling herself. She needed to get away from him, so that he could move on with his life. She hadn't missed the looks that Sue had given him when they were helping her move in. It was only a matter of time before they were having a talk with her. She could handle it, she was Charlie Swan's daughter.
